A Man's World
by Jessi84
Summary: This is the second story about Horatio, Calleigh and Aaron. It follows the story Conquer Your Fear, but it's not a real sequel. Co-written with my writing partner melles. Horatio shows his son the important facts of being a man.
1. Chapter 1

**A Man's World**

**Part 1**

Horatio stood in front of his bathroom mirror and grabbed his toothbrush, since the mirror was still steamed up, thanks to his recent shower. Because of that, he only wore his towel wrapped around his waist. He knew that he still had enough time to get ready for tonight, so he started to brush his teeth.

Tonight was the annual police ball and, not surprisingly, he and Cal had been invited. Normally, he wasn't so fond of balls and/or banquets, but he did like this special one, because he didn't need to play politics. Tonight he would enjoy the good food, the drinks, the time he could spend with his team off the clock and of course having his wife for his own. He could dance with her, which sadly happened rather rarely. But tonight they wouldn't need to have a close look at the watch, since Aaron was spending the night at his grandparents'. He loved his son, there was no question about it, but he did enjoy a night out with his wife.

Deep in thoughts he spit out his mouthwash and was about to grab his shaving foam, when he was interrupted.

Grinning from ear to ear Aaron stormed into the bathroom, dressed only in his grey jeans and a white undershirt, wearing no shoes. "Daaaaddyyyy! When do we go to Nana? Are you ready?" He wanted to know as he stood beside the basin, looking up to his father, very excited about tonight. Although Horatio still wore the towel, Aaron couldn't help but asking anyway. "Mommy says that you should hurry up."

"I'm sure I still have enough time to shave," Horatio grinned and looked at his son. "Are you looking forward to spend the night with Nana?" He asked him, though it was pretty obvious. In the mean time he had grabbed the foam and placed some in his hand and spread it in his face.

Aaron nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes....go to Nana!" He then grew silent as he intently watched his Daddy doing something odd in his opinion. "Why are you doing this? Is that whipping cream? Don't you eat it?"

Laughing Horatio shook his head and cleaned his hands under the warm water. "No, it's not whipping cream. Its shaving foam," he explained to him. "You can't eat it, it...smells and tastes like soap. And I need to shave my face...," he added and lifted his son onto the lavatory. "See?" He said and showed him his razor. "I need this to shave away my beard. It's very sharp, so you have to be very careful while using it."

Not fully convinced the boy touched Horatio's white cheek, feeling the stubbles lightly prickling the skin of his palm. He grinned. "Like Uncle Tim." Then he took his hand away and looked at it, since some of the foam was sticking on his own skin. Within seconds he made a decision, looked at his own image in the mirror and padded his cheek with the foam soaked hand in order to imitate his father's moves he had seen earlier. But the foam wasn't enough so his head got up to Horatio. "Need more!"

"Hmm do you think you need to shave?" Horatio asked and stroke Aaron's cheek. "Oh oh.. I really think you need to...," he said in shock and gave him the bottle. "Let me see if I can find a razor for you, we can't let you go to nana with stubbles." Crouching down, he opened the small cupboard underneath the sink and searched for his old razor, which didn't have a razor blade. "Nana won't be pleased if I send her an unshaved grandson...," he told Aaron and when he looked up with the razor in his hand, he was quite shocked. It seemed like Aaron had used a little too much of the foam. Even his lips and nose were soaped. "Hmm...is there my son underneath the foam?" He asked amused and grinned at him.

Aaron knit his brows as he studied himself in the mirror. He hadn't had any experience with the dispenser so he had used a good handful of foam and now looked really like a snowman and had to laugh out loud at his own sight. Doing so, he revealed his little teeth, giving away an adorable grin. "I'm looking just like you," he stated seriously after he took a deep breath in order to calm down.

"Really? You look like Santa," Horatio smirked and showed him the razor. "This is yours from now on. Your personal razor...so if you ever got the feeling that you need to shave...you come to me. But we don't have to shave you every day, you're a young man and young men don't have to shave every day, okay Aaron?" He told the boy and ruffled his blond hair.

"Okay," he simply answered and carefully grabbed the razor, looking at it in astonishment as if it was something really precious, then back to his father because he didn't know what to do with it.

"Good," Horatio nodded and took his own razor. "So...let's start with the cheeks," he said and did just that. "Slowly and carefully, we don't want to cut ourselves…," he told him while watching himself in the mirror. After all these years of practicing, he didn't really need the mirror, but he could watch Aaron's movements. "Yeah...this looks really good," he praised him. "You're a natural, son," he said proudly and cleaned his razor under warm water, waiting for Aaron to do the same.

The words flattered him and so Aaron beamed with pride into the mirror where he could see his Dad standing right behind him. Very concentrated he copied every move and even though he was a bit untrained he did a good job, shaving away most of the foam.

After cleaning the razor for the last time, Horatio grabbed a washcloth and wet it. "You can wipe away the remaining of the foam with it...," he smiled at his son and watched him. "Let me see if we did a good job." With that, he stroke Aaron's cheek and wiped away the not existing sweat on his own forehead. "No stubbles…phew…we did a great job, nana will be very pleased. Learn this now son; a woman likes well shaved men. Sometimes they like stubbles, but not when you're going out," he gave his son a man to man speech in which he could pass his life experiences.

Because of the tone of his father's voice, Aaron knew that he should listen intently and that's what he did, even though he couldn't figure out any deeper meaning behind it. So he nodded again and said: "Okay. Are you ready now? You need to get dressed."

"Nope, there is one other very important thing you need to do after shaving," Horatio shook his head. "Every man needs a good After Shave...," he said and showed Aaron the small bottle of his Armani. "We shouldn't use too much, but not too little," he explained him and poured a tiny bit of the lotion into Aaron's hand, before he did the same for himself. "Now you need to rub them together and spread it in your face...," he grinned and showed him how. "It stings a bit, but the ladies love it." He knew that Aaron was too young to understand such things, but nevertheless he loved talking about it with his only son.

The boy chuckled, as he felt the cool fluid in his palm. "It smells funny," he said but did as he was told and grimaced and shook his head. "I don't like that."

Losing his smile for a second, Horatio rolled his eyes playfully. "You don't?" He sighed and shook his head. "Well Mr. Caine, the only way to get rid of it, is washing your face. With water AND," he made a theatric pause and lifted one finger, "soap."

"But I already had soap," Aaron protested, like every child he wasn't very responsive to the suggestion his father just told him concerning his washing methods.

"Yeah, but that was before the After Shave," Horatio grinned amused about his son's antics and prepared the washcloth. "So let's see if we can get rid of the smell...," he winked at Aaron and started to wash his face. "Oh my.. I think we need to clean your ears too..," he laughed and did it. The squeal he got in response was a wonderful sound.

"Nooo noooo," the child giggled and tried to escape, but since he was sitting on the lavatory, his chances to ran away were very low. "I'm clean! I'm clean!"

"Are you sure, son? Maybe we need a little bit more soap to be sure...," Horatio threatened him playfully and started to tickle Aaron. Laughing together with his son, he soon stopped the tickling and just wrapped his strong arms around Aaron. Giving him a soft kiss on his hair, he needed a moment to calm himself. "I think we're ready now, Partner," he told him and lifted him up. "Why don't you get your Shirt and we will meet in the bedroom again?"

Smiling Aaron was happy to stand on his own feet and held up his thumb. "Yeah. I'm first...I'm the first one!" he shouted and ran out of the bathroom. The excitement grew bigger with every second.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

"No running in the house," Horatio called after him and walked into his bedroom. There he grabbed his underwear and quickly slipped into his shorts, the wet towel lying on the floor. Now he had a problem - what should he wear? A suit of course, but which one? And which tie? He knew that Calleigh would wear a purple dress, so he had to find something fitting. "Hmm.." This was a tough decision.

Aaron just rolled his eyes about his father's comment and opened his closet. Looking inside he bend his head slightly to one side as he tried to decide which shirt he wanted to wear. Finally he pulled out a Spongebob-shirt, happy about his choice. With that he walked back to the big bedroom from his parents where he found his Daddy standing in front of the closet, deep in thoughts. "I want this," the boy told him and held it up for his father to see.

"Oh Spongebob and Gary? That's a wonderful choice, Aaron," H nodded. "Nana will love it and so will mommy...speaking of, do you know where she is?" He asked and took out a pin-striped dark blue suit plus a fitting shirt. Not to forget some socks which he laid onto his side of the bed.

"I'm in here," Calleigh answered because she had heard the question since she was next door to the bedroom in the smaller bathroom where she tried to decide which jewelry to wear. She took a few items with her and entered the master bedroom where she was greeted by her husband and son. "Don't you think you should hurry up a bit, Mr. Caine?" She asked playfully, normally being the one who ran late.

"Have you heard, Aaron? Mommy said you need to hurry up," Horatio smirked and sat down on his bed to slip on his socks. "May I say that you look lovely tonight, Mrs. Caine?" He told her in his charming way, but it was nevertheless the very truth. She did look stunning, well she always did for him, but tonight it was even better. "I'm not sure if I can keep the other men at bay...," he sighed, "but I will try, just for you."

"I'm expecting nothing less, Mr. Caine," Cal replied smiling at the sight as Aaron fought with the shirt and tried to find the opening for the head and Horatio who sat there with nothing but boxers, shirt and socks. "You look very fashionable," she grinned, then went to help her son.

"Don't I always?" He replied cheekily and slipped into his trousers before he started to button up his shirt. Watching his wife helping their son with his clothes was one of his favorite hobbies. Seeing Calleigh as a mother was very different from what he saw at work. And he loved it dearly. No, it wasn't only the sight, he loved his _family_ dearly. "What do you have there?" He asked and nodded to the jewelry.

After she succeeded in dressing Aaron up, she turned towards Horatio again. "I was wondering if you could help me," she answered and held up two necklaces. "I can't decide."

"Hmm, let me see," he held out his hand and made a quick decision. "This one...definitely," he said and showed her the necklace with a pendant in form of a tulip. He had given it to her as a present on their first anniversary. "It will fit perfectly," he said in conviction and opened the fastener. "May I?"

Smiling she stepped closer, presenting her neck. "Yes, please." She had always loved the tulip one the most and was happy that Horatio had chosen this one. A slight shiver ran down her spine as she felt his fingertips on her bare shoulders and leaned into the touch.

Smiling at her goosebumps, he needed a little bit longer than necessary. Grinning he kissed her neck and then let go of her. "And now shoo shoo Mrs. Caine. We men need some private time…" he grinned and then leaned down to her, "you will get the rest later," he whispered in his husky voice.

"Promise?" She asked back rather quietly so that Aaron wouldn't hear it. "Oh, speaking of...what did you two do in the bathroom for so long? You were in there for quite some time," Cal said and looked at her son who sat on the bed enjoying the fact that he had the opportunity to do so.

He also heard the question and was faster than Horatio when he replied: "We shaved."

"Uh-huh," Horatio nodded at Calleigh's disbelieving face. "That we did. Why don't you test it? We made every effort," he offered her.

Calleigh smirked. "You better don't temp me," she told her husband and tipped on his chest.

"Well it's the truth..," Horatio said and shrugged.

"Here mommy, touch my cheek. No stubble," Aaron jumped from the bed and ran to his mom.

"If you touch his cheek, you have to touch mine too," Horatio sulked and put on his best puppy face.

There was no way to deal with two Caines at the same time and Cal knew that she had lost. Sighing she touched Aaron's cheek first and smiled. "Well, you did very good, darling," she smiled warmly at her son and then stood up and saw Horatio broadly grinning at her. "If we don't hurry up, we will get late for sure," she played with him and enjoyed it.

"Well it's not my fault then, because it's you and only you who don't want to touch my cheek," he huffed and crossed his arms. "Maybe I should ask one of the other women at the ball," he challenged her playfully.

As much as she loved this conversation, she had to be careful what to say because Aaron was still in the room and usually children tended to pick up things that they better shouldn't. "I don't believe that," Calleigh answered and rolled her eyes as she touched his cheek, too. "There...are you happy now?"

"Hm, no...but I guess it's all I can get at the moment," he winked at her and then looked at Aaron. "Come on Buddy, we need to find a fitting tie to complete the outfit...," he told him and stuffed his shirt into his trousers. "We don't want to be late at your grandparents."


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

Hearing that, Aaron was on his feet and by Horatio's side. "I want a tie, too!" he pleaded and took one of Horatio's hands. "Can I have one? Can I?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure if I have one fitting to Spongebob...but I guess we will find one...," he said and opened the wardrobe again. "I will take this," he said and grabbed a lilac one. "And this... would perfectly fit to your outfit." He had some older ties he didn't wear any longer, so Aaron could play with it.

Calleigh simply watched the two, smiling softly as she heard Aarons' doubtful reply.

"Lilac?"

"Yep, sometimes a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do and this includes wearing a lilac colored tie, when his beautiful wife is wearing a purple dress," he smiled at his son. It had been a few years back that he bought the tie, he couldn't even remember why, but now was the perfect moment to wear it. "Yours is blue, don't worry, Aaron," he laughed and ran his hands through the blond hair. "Now we just have to bind the tie." He walked to the mirror, so he could see what he was doing, while Aaron was watching him.

And Aaron did the best he could to follow the single steps his dad showed him, but ended with a knot in his tie and slumped shoulders. "I did wrong, Daddy. Can you help me please?"

"Of course, Buddy," Horatio smiled gently and hadn't had assumed that Aaron could follow the steps. A Windsor knot wasn't that easy. "I'll show you," he crouched down in front of his son and undid the knot in Aaron's tie. "It took me a while to learn it, you know?" He said softly and slowly started to bind the knot. "My mom showed me...when I was a little bit older than you are. It was my first real birthday party ever and she wanted me to look like a real little gentleman..," he told him in a gentle voice and carefully adjusted the tie. "Now have a look in the mirror."

Slowly the boy approached the mirror and grinned. It sure wasn't a common combination with a Spongebob shirt but Aaron liked it. He was proud to wear a tie, just like his Daddy and that was all that mattered to him. "Thank you," he said and noticed something else namely that they both were still wearing socks. "Shoes! We need shoes, too. But no lilac ones!" he shook his head.

"No! Definitely no lilac ones," Horatio shook his head fiercely. "But shoes I can take your mom dancing with," he told Aaron and took his hand in his. "Let's have a look in the shoe cabinet downstairs."

Watching both men disappear, Calleigh fell in love all over again. She had seen Horatio around children long before Aaron was born, but seeing him with his son, made her feel very proud. Horatio was, as clichéd as it sounded, one of a kind and she was very happy that she could call him hers. Giving them some time to get ready, she walked into the bathroom again and put on some perfume. They really needed to get ready, but if they came too late, it wasn't that bad. Family was much more important than a ball with an open start and ending.

As always, Aaron loved challenges especially those he started on his own, like finding the right shoes within 30 seconds. "I want these!" he announced happily, pointing to his sneakers while his father still couldn't make a decision. "I won. You lost."

"Mhm, but finding the perfect shoes is not a game..," Horatio said and reached into the cabinet for some finer shoes. "I guess I need to polish them...," he sighed more or less to himself and grabbed a brush. "Do you have everything you need for your overnight stay?" He asked his son and sat down on a step to clean his shoes. Aaron had the tendency to forget the, in his eyes, more important things he couldn't live without and it had happened more than once, that they had to drive back to get his teddy bear, for example.

"Yes." Nodding Aaron sat down next to his father and put his beloved sneakers on but couldn't hide a grin. "Nana says I can stay up as long as I want."

"She did, huh?" Horatio asked not really convinced. "When did she say that?" Looking at the first spic and span shoe, he grabbed the other and watched his son putting on his sneakers. They still had Velcro fasteners and so Aaron didn't need help with them.

Without looking up he answered. "On the phone. Grandpa said it, too," he added quickly.

"Interesting," Horatio murmured and put on his shoes. "Do you think they would say it again? I mean…do you think they would tell it your mom and me?" He asked with a smile. He was quite sure that his son was fibbing, but he wanted to make sure, plus he loved to investigate. It was in his nature after all.

"Uhm," the boy said shyly and tried to find a way out of his dilemma but was interrupted by his Mom.

"Still not ready boys?" She asked already knowing the answer.

"I'm ready! Daddy's not!"

"No surprise here," Calleigh laughed softly and held out Horatio's jacket, which he had forgotten upstairs.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He huffed and took the jacket from his wife. Slipping it on, he looked down on himself and was very pleased. "My, do I look great tonight...," he said in faked awe and glanced at Cal when he heard her clearing her voice. "Oh, you look good..," he said easily and made a side step, so she couldn't hit his arm. "No...you look absolutely wonderful tonight, Cal..," he said honestly and took in her sight. He was a lucky devil to call her his.

She didn't know how he did, but whatever he said Cal couldn't stay mad at him for long. And the problem was, he knew it all too well and could wrap her easily around his finger. "Thanks, you do likewise, Handsome," she answered flattered by his words after all.

Aaron grinned. "Do I look handsome, too?" He didn't know that Cal had called Horatio by his nickname and got the wrong meaning. Nevertheless he stood up and placed his hands on his hips, showing his best imitation of his fathers' gestures, a broad grin on his face.

"Of course you do, Buddy," Horatio grinned. _"Like father, like son,"_ he thought and reached out to Calleigh for the last steps. "Are you ready, Sweetheart?" He asked when she stood next to him. He loved the fact that she was wearing high heels, because then she measured up to his shoulder easily.

"Yes, I am," Calleigh smiled as she took his offered hand and inhaled his after shave. "We are ready to go, right Aaron?"

"Yes, Mommy," the boy answered and took her hand, too.

Looking at her son and then back to her husband, Calleigh nodded. "All right then. Aarons' backpack is already in the car and we're still on time. Let's go and have some fun, boys."

"I can't wait to see Nana," the boy squealed and pulled his parents towards the front door, or at least he tried to.

Smiling, Horatio rolled his eyes and opened the door for his family. They would have a nice night, he was sure and when they left the house and stepped into the warm air, he knew that it would not only be nice but wonderful. His son was happy, his wife too and that made him the happiest man on earth.

**The End….****for now**


End file.
